Systems for generating drinkable or potable water from sea water, or other high salt content water sources, have generally not been cost-effective due to high energy costs and due to the frequent need to clean various desalination devices. One commonly-used method that is often employed by ships (large and small) is a reverse osmosis (RO) process to generate potable water from sea water. However, RO requires a pressure of between 600 and 1000 psi and such pressures can only be achieved by large energy-consuming pumping systems. Lower RO pressures can be used to save energy costs but only at the expense of much lower recovery rates.
FO or forward osmosis processes have been developed for a saline-free drink. However, the osmotic potential of the FO permeate or such product is generally not suitable for drinking or human rehydration. However, FO does have an advantage on not needed outside application of energy to drive its process as energy comes from an osmotic force. However, FO, by itself, cannot achieve potable water from a salt water source (e.g., sea water).
Therefore, neither FO nor RO alone has achieved the desirable criteria of producing drinking water from sea water without the need for significant quantities of energy input. The present invention addresses the problem of producing drinking water from a high saline water source (such as sea water, brackish water, urine or sweat) without the need to consume significant energy resources.